Across borders: science and technology during the Cold War. An introduction.

During the last decades we have witnessed an explosion of historical research on science during the Cold War period 1. The availability of archival and other historical resources, and the recognition that the social history of this period cannot be written without acknowledging the contribution of science and technology, are some of the reasons behind the accumulation of historical research on this period. Moreover, salient features of contemporary science, including the primacy of governmental over private financing of scientific research, have their roots not only in the post war configuration of science, but in Cold War anxieties that defined research priorities between the late 1940s and the 1980s. National security concerns, and its correlate, international collaboration, are also part of what today define the practice of science around the globe. International and bi-national agencies were created in this period and played a crucial role in the internationalization and standardization of science.